Crossing Stone
by vodka on fire
Summary: At the heart of the void used for Skimming lies a never before seen island from where all the worlds of creation are reachable. As Rand finds himself at this Crossing Stone, the world hinds itself without a Dragon Reborn.


At the heart of the void used for Skimming lies a never before seen island from where all the worlds of creation are reachable. As Rand finds himself at this Crossing Stone, the world hinds itself without a Dragon Reborn. Rand must now travel from world to world seeking a way back to his home, to die at Shayol Ghul, and save his world.

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own anything… well nothing in this fic anyway.<p>

Author's notes: I'm trying to branch out a little bit and see how things work out. This is meant to be a crossover story between a variety of fantasy worlds I love. I'm not quite sure which or how many worlds will be included by the end, but several are alluded to in this prologue and at least one of them will be used. I will consider any votes or suggestions you have for worlds that Rand should visit in his quest to get back home. Good luck figuring out what worlds I have alluded to here. Let me know if you think you got them.

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><p>A strong wind, that was neither beginning nor end, blew through a now ruined courtyard outside the stone of Tear. Rand shivered as the world shook around him. His two maiden guards lay dead at his feet. From somewhere in the distance a pure bar of balefire cut the pillar before him and threatened to remove him form the pattern itself. Where had Demandred been hiding? It had to be him, he had close tabs on all the remaining forsaken, and no mere darkfriend would dare challenge him. <em>Ah the arrogance, it will be our downfall. <em>He cleared his mind and vision of the streaks of red and tried to see where the balefire had come from. He needed time to think and plan his next move.

Opening a gateway for skimming he stepped onto the all too familiar round disk that was the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai. Suddenly the world shook once again as another bar of balefire hit his weave. For a moment he saw himself in two places, simultaneously inside the gateway and standing outside of it. Then all was darkness.

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><p>Elayne sat in a small audience chamber in the Andoran palace as master Norry, her very capable clerk, droned on about various reports he was giving. Suddenly a sharp pain seized her and she fell over screaming. In seconds she was surrounded by guardswomen looking every which way for what could have harmed her. Others of her guards were securing the doors and Birgitte knelt beside her holding her head. The room was in a flurry but her mid could not focus. "He's just gone," was all she managed to whisper.<p>

"What in the name of the Light are you talking about?" Brigitte cursed at her.

"Rand" she said, regaining her breath. "I don't know how, but he is gone, I felt him a second ago, and now it's as if his bond had been ripped out of me. Quickly, send some kinswomen to check on him, he should be in Tear." She retook her chair and just like that she was the self composed queen once more. "And send someone to find Aviendha as well. I want to know what she felt." Elayne added absently. _What was that?_

Birgitte eyed her worriedly. Elayne may look the calm and collected queen, but the bond betrayed her pain and fear.

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><p>Aviendha picked herself up off the ground and held her head gingerly. What had happened to him? Had he managed to get himself killed before she had a chance to go to him? It was time to return. Part of her wondered at the fact that she felt no pain over the potential loss of the Car'a'carn. Rand was far more important. Weaving a gateway to Tear she ran though to meet with the Wise Ones.<p>

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><p>"Go find him!" Min screamed at the gathered Aes Sedai, her red eyes betrayed her anger and spoke of the tears she had recently shed. "There has to be a way!"<p>

"The foolish boy has gone and gotten himself killed," Cadsuane breathed. Even the fabled Cadsuane couldn't keep her voice firm right then. "He was hit by balefire; there is nothing we can do. Light, but this is bad."

Min would not give up she would find him. _That fool loobie can't get away from me that easily._

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><p>Rand regained consciousness somewhere dark. He was lying on a very cold hard surface his body sprawled on it as if thrown like a ragdoll. Opening his eyes he recognized the flame of Tar Valon carved into the ground. He was on his skimming disk. <em>How long have I been here<em>, he wondered idly. Suddenly terror gripped him for the first time since he found peace on dragonmount. He realized that he was moving faster than he had ever moved with the skimming disk before. Never before had he even had a notion of speed in this endless darkness, merely a vague feeling that he was moving. He tried to open a gateway but he did not know how to change the destination while in this place. Always before he wove the destination into the opening of this gateway, but Demandred's balefire had broken his weave.

Desperately, he tried to weave another gateway, the inverse of what he used to get here, it worked but suddenly he zoomed by it, it was no more than a pinprick in the distance. _STOP!_ He though furiously. The disk did not respond. He sought the void and once more, this time calmly and with great strength, he ordered it to stop. The disk slowed, not stopping precisely, but it felt right now, as it normally did.

Rand sat and waited for the disk to reach its destination, he no longer felt like he was being thrown through emptiness there was a definitive sense of direction now. After what seemed like an age he came to an island in the darkness. This was much like the islands in the ways, but that was impossible, there was nothing in this place. He stepped onto this island and the disk disappeared the moment Rand's foot left it. Panicked, he turned envisioning the disk there again. It did not return. His panic was strong but slowly another emotion was out weighing it. His curiosity had been piqued, Asmodean had said that this place was a void, perhaps not even the forsaken knew of this place. Slowly he approached the center of the island where a large portal stone stood in defiance of all reason. He had dedicated some study to these stones since he had last used one; it never hurt to be prepared. He searched the carvings along it but none were familiar to him.

The symbols on this stone were all perfectly preserved and they seemed to call to him. He ran his finders along a sinusoidal wave coiled in a circle around itself and images began to flourish in his mind. He saw a beautiful world, but something was wrong. As he looked closer he noticed that cracks ran across the world splitting it into seven regions he studied the cracks and suddenly the world crashed around him. He could feel the pain of the world, it was split and broken. He felt great power emanating from this world, a strong power he had never felt before. It wound around the seven shards and kept them close seeming to connect them. The vision coalesced into two large sinuous creatures fighting each other. _Dragons!_ He though shocked, as he recognized them as the same creatures that had been drawn on his own arms.

Beside it was a carving of a large wall. Here he glimpsed two worlds, one through each eye. One reminded him of his own world, with castles and fortifications, but it carried a strange scent, as if of death. The other seemed like a scene from the Age of Legends. He saw small metal contraptions much like the steam horse, but that traveled much faster and more smoothly, and more surprisingly, some of them flew. _ How can one world have such diversity in it?_ He wondered. Suddenly a great wall exploded in his vision and the worlds began to mix, it should have been right, the place should be as one, but it felt wrong. He felt, not evil, but malice emanating from that explosion. He was not seeing events unfold, he realized, but rather he saw a representation of what this world faced.

The next symbol was a circle with a line through it surrounded by a triangle. This world was peaceful but tense. Here too he saw those scenes from the Age of Legends. And there was no other world beside it. Suddenly he saw darkness befall this world and a strangely serpentine face appeared in his thoughts. The skin was pulled tight over a gaunt face and eyes seems little more than slits in that all too pale visage.

Beside this was the symbol of a small box, he almost cringed at touching it, but that part of him was gone now; he had made peace with himself. Through this symbol he saw a world full of wonder, and creatures the likes of which he had never seen before. Darkness and silence threatened to cover the world over and over again in waves, and each time a lone defender stopped it, he wore different faces, but somehow Rand knew it was the same man. The man's eyes filled his mind and the sadness in them showed Rand what others must see when they gazed upon him.

Symbols continued etched into the tall pillar. Rand wondered what this meant. Were these other worlds like the strange dreamlike world he had entered so long ago? But they felt more alien, and he did not feel any kinship to any parts of those worlds.

He studied more symbols each time new and bizarre images flooded his mind. None felt right to him. None spoke of his own world. Finally he decided to use any one of these worlds maybe there he could find a way back home, perhaps he could find help; but which to choose.

Deciding to let his ta'veren nature lead him, he closed his eyes and pointed to a symbol blindly.

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><p>Perrin nearly stumbled as he felt something tug at him hard. It was short but it had been incredibly strong. "Did you feel that?" he asked Mat.<p>

"Bloody right I did," Matt hissed. "And just when I was gonna settle in with a few mugs. Bloody hell, what was that."

"He needs us," Perrin replied, still stunned from the strength of that tugging. It was like the constant pull he felt from Rand, only a million times as strong and all at once in one short burst.

Perrin strode out of his tent and sent the first guards he could find to get Grady and his wife. A few minutes later Faile came in a rush towards him.

"What has happened husband, the guard you sent said he saw death on your face when you spoke to him."

"Rand needs me, I don't know why but this is more important than ever before." He looked into her eyes seeing worry and disapproval. "I don't have time to argue, I have to leave now, no time to take the army, and they are needed for _Tarmon Gai_'_don __anyway. If I do not return, then you lead them Faile." She looked at him suspiciously. He had never put her in a potentially dangerous situation before. But then he felt that __Tarmon Gai_'_don__ would be a safer place then wherever he was going._

_Before Faile could object Grady strode up to Perrin. "I need a gateway to Tear," Perrin said. "You'll be coming with me." Perrin paused seeing Grady's__ confused look. "Rand needs us." He saw a long argument with Faile ahead of him, but this time he had no choice in the matter._

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><p>Thanks for reading I hope you review and please give some input into where this should go next. Also please do try to guess what worlds Rand saw through the Crossing stone.<p> 


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